Matt Courtney appeared to be Helen Turley's successor

Photo by: Greg Gorman

James Laube

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Posted: Dec 5, 2012 2:00pm ET

Matt
Courtney, who many thought would become Marcassin's winemaker, is leaving the
high-profile winery after eight years and in January will become winemaker for
Arista, a Sonoma-based, family-owned winery that specializes in Pinot Noir.

Joining
Arista would seem like a good fit for Courtney, 41, since he's been working
with both Sonoma Pinot and Chardonnay during his stint with Marcassin. Arista
makes a handful of wines, including old-vine Zinfandel, which also appeals to
Courtney. He worked with Zinfandel at Martinelli when Helen Turley was
Martinelli's winemaker-consultant and also made Zin at Biale Winery in Napa
Valley.

Arista,
owned by the McWilliams family since 2004, believes Courtney brings a
philosophy and approach toward winemaking and winegrowing "that is in perfect
alignment with the vision the family has held since the inception, which is to
craft elegant, ageworthy wines at the highest level of quality," read a statement issued by the family. Courtney
succeeds consulting winemaker Leslie Sisneros at the 5,000-case annual production winery.

Courtney's
departure from Marcassin comes after what he described as years of deliberation
as to what his role at Marcassin would be. He was widely believed
to be Turley's successor as winemaker and was involved in most facets of
the winery's operations. Turley and her husband, John Wetlaufer, are the
founding owners of the highly regarded winery, which pioneered Chardonnay and
Pinot Noir on the Sonoma Coast. Turley and Welaufer are very private and did not respond to a
query about Courtney or his departure.

"There's always been some speculation" about his stepping
into the role as winemaker at Marcassin, Courtney allowed. "John and Helen
talked about it and the answer is it may have been a possibility, but there
were never any specifics and that conversation may continue as they get older.
They are not spring chickens."

He added,
"I'm leaving on exceptional terms." Joining Arista "was just the opportunity to
branch out and take my career in a new direction."

"I don't
know how much they ever thought about [a transition]," he added. "I once heard
John say he wanted to die in the vineyard. I've been there eight years, loved
working there, and could have been there another 15 years, and who knows how
that would unfold." The winery has scaled back production to two wines, the
estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and last year it moved into its first
facility, a new winery in Windsor.

At
Arista, Courtney said he has a chance to head the winemaking and grapegrowing
at a young brand with huge potential. The estate vineyard sits on a
sloping bench directly between Williams Selyem and Rochioli Vineyard on
Westside Road in Russian River Valley. Like Marcassin, Arista's
vineyard is planted to a mix of heritage and Dijon clones of Pinot Noir and
Chardonnay, and is just about to hit full maturity. "The
McWilliams family has also just purchased the Martinelli Road Vineyard next to
Jackass Hill, which is home to 130-year-old Zinfandel and old-vine Chardonnay,"
Courtney said. Ulises Valdez, considered one of Sonoma's top viticulturists,
does all of the farming. "I'll also be working with a phenomenal group of
non-estate vineyards that Arista sources from, including Bucher, Ferrington,
Bacigalupi and now Ritchie."

On the
winemaking side, he said, the situation is equally compelling, as the
McWilliams family is totally committed to crafting the wines at
the highest level of quality. "To this end we will immediately begin
construction of a new winery at the Westside Road property. This new facility
will also be the home of my own small brand of Pinot and Chardonnay that I will
launch next year." Courtney has not decided on a brand name.

"As you
can probably guess, this was a very difficult decision for me," Courtney said.
"John and Helen have been incredible mentors and at this point they are also
good friends. But I was presented with an opportunity that I just couldn't
pass up."

Dave Pramuk

Napa — December 5, 2012 4:35pm ET

We saw first hand Matt's great talent, focus, and potential. We are excited for him and his new opportunity at Arista. He is going to make a lot of beautiful wines - a winemaker to watch for sure.We wish him well.

Dave PramukCo-FounderBiale

Bill Smart — December 5, 2012 8:08pm ET

Dave - could not agree more. Matt is going to a great family winery too. This definitley a win-win for everyone involved.

Cheers!

Troy Peterson

Burbank, CA — December 8, 2012 12:47am ET

It seems like an amicable split, much like those I've experienced in my life. I therefore wish both parties all the best.

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